Alonso: Several tenths behind

Editor

Fernando Alonso is not expecting any major gains from McLaren-Honda, conceding they will likely finish in the midfield in qualifying.

Putting in the laps at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday, the double World Champion was ninth quickest in the morning's session.

However, the swap to supersoft tyres before the rain in FP2 saw him finish the day down in 15th place, 1.639s off the pace.

And given the high-speed nature of the Canadian circuit, Alonso is not expecting much better come Saturday's qualifying.

"We tried several things in FP1, all of which seemed to work as we'd expected," explained the Spaniard.

"So far I am happy with the balance of the car, and with the power delivered here, but the features of this track don't suit our package too well.

"We're still several tenths behind to where we want to be.

"Position-wise, we need to take a step forward, but that's going to be difficult to accomplish here.

"In qualifying session we therefore expect to end up somewhere in the midfield."